Well even though absolutely no one commented on [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/top-ride-around-glentrool-pics-and-a-few-comments ]my review of Glentrool[/url], I thought I would still write up my thoughts on Ae. 🙂
Went to Ae today to check out the revamped sections. There has been a lot of TLC at Ae recently, so I thought I’d write a quick review. Although I like Ae, I had recently been put off returning as so many sections were either worn or naturally rocky, and I used to get beaten up on my HT.
However, having heard about all the restoration work, I thought it only fair to return and check it out.
The map of Ae is here if anyone who has not been wants to have a look for the following to make a bit more sense.
Rab’s Slippery One has had some patching up, as had the next section of singletrack. What is very noticeable though is Granny Green Luv. This used to be really rocky and shake me around, but it has been totally resurfaced. Some people here may think of it as scalextric but I really like it. With a little weathering it will become a tad more natural. But you can really pick up speed.
The next section is downhill, and although not much work has been done on this, with some still sketchy big berms which need lines to be chosen with care, the final two have been flattened, just before the bridge. Still a section that would be better off with a happy hardcore HT rather than my XC Caldera.
There has been some work on the face to make it more ridable, but with it being so steep in places I still have to push.
Then on to Bran Burn Bash. The first half of this has been resurfaced, and it is now much faster to ride. The second half, which is the lovely downhill section has not been finished yet. I do actually hope it gets redone, as it is so rocky people like me have to take it slowly. Hopefully it will really have the grin factor once it gets revamped, as some of the lines are excellent.
Obviously there is still the long fireroad in this section too, but that’s ok - maybe a 15 minute uphill for me.
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There is a short fun wooded section before the edge, and this seems to have had some patching up too. As you shoot out of the woods and on down to the edge, the berms have been repaired, again making it much faster than normal. The edge has not had any work down on it, but it probably didn’t need too much done anyway, with the 2 bermy descents still being great fun.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/5120125257/ ]IMG_0015[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simonralli/ ]simon ralli[/url], on Flickr
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You then have the long fireroad climb, with quite a long section of raised northshore, which although fairly wide still needs a bit of concentration! Nil Desperandum (I think this is the section) is a singletrack climb running alongside the fireroad. Before it was not all that, but now it has been smoothed, you can pick up speed for some of the berms and little drop jumps.
You then climb up more fireroad before the start of the big long Omega Man descent. This has had an entirely new section of serpentine berms added, which are just brilliant fun. As soon as you are out of one berm you are into another, and you want to go back and do it all again!
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Half way down the Omega Man I bumped into two blokes and a young lad, and we all decided to head up to the start of The Shredder - Ae’s second DH track which is graded Red, as opposed to the Championship DH track for professionals!
I have never ridden DH before, but thought I’d give it a go. As you can see, one of the lads was riding a 25 year old bike, fully rigid, no helmet, and two locks, one on the front and one on the back! Hardcore!
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/5120746648/ ]IMG_0028[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simonralli/ ]simon ralli[/url], on Flickr
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The wee lad took a bit of a tumble near the top on a very rocky section. I went past and didn’t take any photos - I was having too much fun. Dang there were some steep berms needing commitment to clear them, and annoyingly there were maybe two jumps that looked like they would have a large drop the other side but when you got right up you could see that they could be ridden.
I didn’t actually ride the 7’ or more monster gap jump, but made it down in one piece and was stoked - radical to the power of maximum sickness! For those of you who are not DHillers but like some air time and stuff, you should definitely add the Shredder in to the red.
At the bottom, you rejoin the second half of Omega Man which is still quite rocky but has plenty of chicken runs.
Luckily the wee lad wasn’t hurt in a serious way, and the only downer was the cafe being closed as it does not open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during winter hours.
But it is a fab cafe, with super strong coffee and well worth a visit.
Overall, once the Bran Burn Bash has been finished, Ae for me will be well worth a revisit. I think often it gets a bit of a bad press, but these refurbishments I feel has now made it much more accessible for XC intermediate riders like me who found some of the rocky loose berms pretty intimidating. The bomb hole is now open too, and over all Ae has now become a whole lot more fun and faster, and I now feel I can recommend it as a ride whereas before I felt I could not for most people.
It’s good - you should go!
The helmet brigade are gona have a field day.
I liked Ae, its pretty rocky in places but I hope they haven't flattened everything out. Hopefully they've blocked a few of those cheat lines that appeared at the Ae Enduro.
No - they certainly haven't flattened out the downhills - after Granny Green Luv, Bran Nurn Bash, after the Edge, and obviously the Omega Man. It is more a case of improving the other sections of singletrack to make them much more speedy. It's still a happy hardcore loop 😀
Thing is, I guess I should have said that maybe the Shredder should be avoided at weekends and any other times when you are likely to actually meet proper DHers, as there could be some unhappy riders unhappy at being held up after having walked all the way to the top of the hill!
I like Ae, only done DH bits the last two visits but looking forward to another go at the XC.
The Shredder's really good fun isn't it?
Looks pretty good to me - and the name surely must be the shortest of any trail in the World?!
The Shredder is just excellent, I just wish I had a somewhat more hardcore HT with slacker angles and more suspension to make me feel a bit more secure! 🙂
Might need to go back now 😆 It was the Omega Man that really put the nails in the coffin of Ae for me, I was slogging round it thinking "Ah well, this is OK, and apparently it's got an amazing final descent", then it turned out that it really
didn't. So good news if that's been brought up to scratch. Thanks for the review!
nice review Simon, those series of berms look fun but a bit shallow, maybe it's the camera angle though?
Those berms look nice, but not enough gradient to really take advantage of their swoopiness - not knocking it though - I really enjoyed Ae, particularly the Shredder and final descent.
where abouts is this place?
im coming to the uk and might come have a look at this 😉
"where abouts is this place?"
Too close to Mabie, Drumlanrig, Kirroughtree and Dalbeattie 😆 Or if you prefer, conveniently close to them for a week's riding, it's one of the western 7 Stanes.
ae forest
Only doen the dwonhill and shredder - whichis hwere those helmetless peeps are just starting I bet the lad fell just in shot- not a begineers route and a only a 2 in relation to the proper dpwnhill and more gnar than Llandegla inc new bit[ my trail centre knowledge is now exhausted]
Did not realise how much nice XC other stuff there was there
Ae is just off the road that goes from Dumfries to Moffat - it's about 5 miles north of Dumfries, and is about 10m from the motorway.
As for the berms, they are not that steep, but as I said, you roll out of one and into the next immediately - and the angle is such that you can quite easily pick up speed. But I go back to another point I made, in that Ae is now becoming a bit more beginner friendly. There are still plenty of rocky and steep berms that even get me a bit spooked - and don't forget you have now not just the Omega man but other descents too with plenty of jumps and drops as well as berms - and I think this is definitely the right way to go.
I'm glad I had a go at the Shredder, as the berms are really steep there and I made it down in one piece 🙂
Northwind - yeah - Caddon Bank at Innerleithen may have been what you were expecting - but given that Omega Man officially starts at the Head stane, you have to admit is is a pretty long descent with plenty of berms drops table tops and jumps and the like. I think for me though I would have more fun on a slightly more hardcore bike, but that is not going to happen any time soon. Oh well.
Oh and that lad came off after the next two berms, over the northshore and on that really rocky tight U turn and steep downhill corner that I walked down!
Having previously being one of my favourite centres, I had written Ae off after my last visit when it looked like someone had dropped a nuclear bomb on the place, killing all trees and blasting the trails to shreds. Good to hear they've been doing some work on it. Will pencil in another visit now. thanks for the review
Thing is, the Bran Burn Bash really still does look like that, I know what you mean. For me though that is all part of the "out there" character of the place. Also, I was a bit upset when the trees came down on the Edge descent, and when I first rode them after the felling I was totally lost as I didn't recognise it at all.
There are still some good twisty pieces of singletrack that wind around trees, and a surprising amount of lush wooded areas too that you tend to forget. I just love the really deep green mosses on the forest floor.
simonralli2 - Member
"Northwind - yeah - Caddon Bank at Innerleithen may have been what you were expecting - but given that Omega Man officially starts at the Head stane, you have to admit is is a pretty long descent with plenty of berms drops table tops and jumps and the like."
Well, that was part of it, discovering the "final descent" had a climb and a fireroad in it was a bit of a surprise 😆 Think I'd have been happier with a shorter descent that had more going on. It just left me a wee bit disappointed and always expecting something better just round the corner.
But to be fair I think I judge Ae really harshly just becaise of its neighbours, I need to give it another try. But not til I've ridden Drumlanrig and Mabie about another 10 times each 
Oh, Ae fans... In terms of difficulty/peril.fun, how does the Ae downhill compare to the waymarked Innerleithen trails or the world cup descent at fort william? I was half thinking of fitting in an uplift day next time I'm in the west but it doesn't seem to have much altitude to work with... I was planning to go up and sniff it out last time but the track was closed for the british champs.
Ae downhill is a proper downhill course (well there are 2 courses there) which are designed for proper DH racing with DH bikes and have some monster gap jumps. I don't think you can really compare these with Innerleithen's XC tracks. You would need to compare Ae and Innerleithen's DH tracks and their XC tracks really. And I am sure neither can really compare to Fort William, not from what I have seen on the telly, but actual DH riders here may want to provide some somewhat more informed opinions.
I was meaning the DH trails- should have been clearer though, saying waymarking confused it I guess, I meant the official DH trails rather than the race lines, secrets, etc.
Ah right got ya.
Seeing this thread give me a chance to mention Kirroughtree, where I rode today.
Very different ride to Ae, and I didn't take many photos. I was really trying to get some kind of "flow" going, although didn't really have the legs to clear a number of the rocky trail sections, but I did clear a few pieces that I normally walk or have to stop to look at.
My legs normally go just before Heartbreak Hill, and to be honest I walked up that and quite a bit of the subsequent Craggy thingy bit (forgotten the name). But the descent, it just goes on forever it seems, and is just one of the best bits of flowy singletrack around, first being quite rocky, and then lush and woody when into the trees and you are still descending.
There were a few bits I guess I could have cleared but wasn't really in the mood for a stop start ride. The thing about Kirroughtree is that as I don't ride it too often, you forget just how much lovely singletrack there is, right from the start. One and a half hours on the first part of the red and you are only just 1/4 around! Great weather too today, and although a tad slippy, finished with a big grin 😀
Just had this email from Andy Hopkins who is the manager for the Western Stanes (I think that is his job title).
We will continue to improve Ae in the next Financial year starting April 2011.The main areas we intend to Improve are;Granny Green Luv(from the newly finished section down to the Road and then down to the bridge) Bran Burn Bash(the later section),The Omega Man(mainly the finish as this has become very rough).
So that's good news then.